Junior
by Mette1
Summary: Lately C.C. has been eating a lot more than usual. I wonder why.....
1. part 1

I'm dedicating this story to my little sister Anne, who gave me the greatest gift a chronically single girl like me could ever get. She made me an aunt to the prettiest girl in the whole world, Julia.  
  
Disclaimer: Just messing with my favourite characters, even though they're not mine.  
  
Hope you like it. Let me know if you do (or even if you don't).  
  
Junior  
  
(or "How you realize Life's little surprises might not be as bad as you used to think.")  
  
by Mette (mette_kjoller@yahoo.com)  
  
Before reading this try and forget (almost) everything that happened in the 6th season.  
  
It was a perfectly normal day in September. The Sheffields' wedding and honeymoon were things of the past and everything had returned to normal - well, as normal as the Sheffield household could possibly get. Fran had taken Maggie shopping, the other kids were at school, Maxwell and CC were working in the office and Niles was cleaning up after lunch.  
  
As he put the dishes in the dishwasher, Niles hummed a little tune to himself. Everything seemed to be right with the world today and he felt good. He was bending down with his head almost inside the dishwasher, when CC walked into the kitchen.  
  
She didn't notice that he was in the room at all. She just went straight for the refrigerator.  
  
'What to eat?' she thought to herself as she looked inside.  
  
It was only an hour since she had lunch, but she was hungry again. She knew she shouldn't be eating again already, she had gained a bit too much lately, but she was hungry, no-one really noticed how she looked anyway and honestly she just didn't care. Her weight had gone up and down like a yo-yo the last couple of years, so she would most likely loose the extra pounds soon. Or at least she hoped so.  
  
Niles peeked up from the dishwasher and saw CC roaming around in the fridge. She hadn't said anything to him so he figured she wasn't aware of his presence.  
  
'How to take advantage of this sudden opportunity? Oh, yes...' Niles smiled in anticipation, as he crept closer to scare the hell out of the dragon.  
  
He almost laughed out loud, when she began rocking from side to side while tapping a rhythm with her right foot as if she was listening to a tune inside her head. It looked absolutely hilarious. He wished he had a video camera.  
  
CC was still completely consumed by the task of selecting food, when Niles stopped only a foot away from her and looked at her more closely.  
  
She looked good today, even though it looked like she'd gained a little weight. Not that it was any wonder, she'd been eating like a pig lately. Oh, he'd better remember that one for later. Her little private refrigerator-dance made her seem happy, but why had she eating so much? 'Well, it's not like you're one of the thinnest people around here yourself, is it?' Niles scolded himself, still watching her as she almost climbed inside trying to reach the ketchup-bottle in the back.  
  
He was so caught up in his own thoughts about her, that when she suddenly turned around with both arms filled with food, he got almost as big a shock as she did.  
  
She dropped the food and let out a scream that could have woken the dead.  
  
"Aaaaarrrghhh.....!!!! Niles, you idiot! You scared me half to death! What the hell were you doing standing right there, you little hobgoblin!!"  
  
He'd been close to screaming too, but quickly collected himself. She was yelling something at him, but he didn't really listen. He was far too busy trying to make his heart stop beating as if it was trying to jump right out of his chest.  
  
CC didn't listen to what she was yelling either. She hadn't heard him at all and then suddenly he'd been there. God, she hated, when he scared her like that!  
  
Slowly they both calmed down and just looked at each other, still standing only a foot apart.  
  
"Niles, if you ever do that again, I will personally tie you up and throw you off the Empire State Building," she hissed between her teeth, then calmly stepped over the mess on the floor and walked back to the office.  
  
After she'd left Niles just kept staring into the open refrigerator. God, he hated when she scared him like that! He took a deep breath and began cleaning up. He decided that the next time he had to plan it better. She was beginning to have far too much influence on the outcome of his tricks.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When CC stepped back in to the office, she had almost calmed down. Maxwell looked at her a bit puzzled.  
  
"What was all that screaming about, CC?".  
  
"Just your butler trying to be funny. Nothing interesting really."  
  
"Oh, okay." Maxwell knew that getting into a discussion about what went on between his butler and business associate was never a good idea.  
  
"Maxwell, I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so I'll be gone for a few hours, okay?"  
  
"Sure, CC. There isn't anything wrong with you, is there?"  
  
"Of course not. It's just a check-up."  
  
"Okay. By the way, have you seen the new chorus girls' contracts? I can't seem to find them anywhere."  
  
Thankful for the change of conversation topic, she went back to work.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Since CC turned 16 she'd had a standing appointment with her doctor every 6 months. CC was good at a lot of things, but listening to her body was not one of them and she knew it. So she needed someone else to tell her if there was something wrong with it. Last week her doctor had taken some blood tests and now it was time to hear if there was anything new. There usually wasn't.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I'm what?!" She had to have heard him wrong. It just couldn't be right.  
  
"CC, you're pregnant," Dr. Aaronson repeated patiently.  
  
"Pregnant? You mean like I'm-going-to-be-the-size-of-a-whale-pregnant?"  
  
"Yep, exactly that kind of pregnant."  
  
CC's brain began working overtime. It couldn't be... She hadn't even... It was more months than she cared to admit since she... A thousand thoughts went through her head at once and she felt herself begin to panic. 'Calm down, CC, breathe deeply. Do not freak out now.'  
  
"How far along am I?" she asked as calmly as she could.  
  
"I can't tell that from the blood-test. An ultrasound could give me a big hint, but the most accurate thing would be if you think back to some possible dates for conception."  
  
"But that's just it I can't be... I haven't.... it's more than a year since..." CC's voice faulted and she went silent. Dr. Aaronson looked at CC. In his long career as a doctor he'd told a lot of single women that they were pregnant and this wasn't the first time he saw this reaction. CC was almost catatonic, she just sat there staring right into space.  
  
"CC?" No response. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it lightly. "CC, snap out of it." She finally blinked and looked at him.  
  
"Dr. Aaronson are you 100% sure? This isn't a trick or something, is it?"  
  
"No, it's not a trick and yes, I am 100% sure. The blood test is very clear on that point. Am I right when I'm guessing this isn't a planned pregnancy?"  
  
"Planned?!" CC jumped out of the chair and began pacing back and forth in the small office. "How could I possibly have planned it?! I don't even know how or when I got in this situation in the first..." - she stopped dead in the middle of the room - "...place." She had suddenly remembered a certain morning four months ago. No. No, way. This just couldn't be true. If it was, it was the sickest trick the universe could possibly play on her. She just closed her eyes and tried not to think at all. This was more than she could take right now.  
  
"CC, are you alright?"  
  
She opened her eyes again.  
  
"No, I'm not alright. I just figured out who the father is and it's about the worst possibility in the entire world."  
  
"Well, when did you have a close encounter with this "possibility"? If you have a date or at least a week we'll know how far along you are."  
  
"May 13th." She said it with a tone as if she was condemning herself to death.  
  
Dr. Aaronson looked down at his calendar, quickly counting the weeks. "That makes it 16, almost 17 weeks...roughly 4 months."  
  
"But... but I haven't felt weird, thrown up or... or... or any of those things you're supposed to when you're - you're... I can't even say it!"  
  
"CC, not all women have those symptoms. Some just feel it like a mild flu for a couple of weeks. I guess you're just one of the lucky ones."  
  
"Lucky?! You think I'm lucky?! I have to find out this way, when it is too late to have it removed." She stopped pacing for just a few seconds and looked at dr. Aaronson. "Or is it? Is there any chance I can get rid of it? Any chance at all?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but no. You're way past the twelfth week, so your life had to be in serious danger before I could let you have an abortion."  
  
CC almost fell back down in the chair. She felt doomed.  
  
"You mean I can't do anything about this.. this.. parasite that has invaded my body?"  
  
"It's a baby CC, not a parasite - remember that. But no, you can't do anything other than learn to accept what is happening to you, and remember that this part of it will be over in just 5 short months. Do you have anyone who can help and take care of you during your pregnancy? Your mother or a sister? Maybe the father?"  
  
"The father?! This is all his fault. I'm gonna kill him for doing this to me!" CC grabbed her purse and stormed out of the office in search of a certain butler and with murder on her mind.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Niles!!!"  
  
CC's yell rang through the mansion the second she slammed the front-door open. She didn't know how she had gotten from the doctor's office and back to the mansion, but she had worked up quite a temper on the way.  
  
"Niiilllleeesss!!!"  
  
Her voice was saturated with annoyance and impatience as she made her way to the kitchen, knowing that was where she was most likely to find the little perpetrator.  
  
True enough. There he was, sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee with Nanny Fine. CC didn't notice her though. She was far too agitated and furious. Her mind was only on him.  
  
She almost ran up to him, grabbed the collar of his shirt with both hands and pulled him out of the chair. They ended up so close that their noses were almost touching. Trying hard to control her anger she hissed her accusation.  
  
"You did this on purpose, didn't you? I can't believe you would go to this length to humiliate me, you little slime-ball. I am going to kill you so many times for doing this to me, that even your ghost is going to have scars for life."  
  
Niles looked at her with great surprise... and perhaps a little fear, he had never seen her this upset before. What ever he had done, or she thought he had done, it was bad. It was really bad.  
  
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything to you." He paused a second. "Well, I haven't done anything lately." He tried to back off a little. They were far too close for comfort, but she hold onto him like a wino to the last bottle of booze.  
  
"Oh, it's not lately I'm talking about, Betty Crocker," she said pushing him up against the counter, still holding on to his collar.  
  
"Miss Babcock, what's the matter? Why are you pushing Niles around like that?"  
  
Fran's characteristic voice cut through CC's anger filled mind and she slowly turned her head to look at the woman who had the nerve to disturb her in her rage. If eyes could kill, Fran would have been six feet under instantly.  
  
"Nanny Fine," CC's voice was almost sweet, but leaving a clear hint that she could blow up any second. She continued with a fake smile: "I have something to discuss with Niles so if you'd please leave us alone, before I stuff you down the garbage disposer... head first!"  
  
Fran wisely left the kitchen as fast as she could, and went in search of her husband. She hoped he could shed some light on what might have upset Miss Babcock so much.  
  
CC turned her attention back to Niles as soon as Fran was out the door. The rage that surged through her body made it almost impossible for her to speak. Words just didn't seem enough to convey her feelings right now.  
  
Niles saw as the expression on CC's face changed from anger to hate, then to outrage and back to anger. Her whole body trembled with the fierce emotions. Well, he might as well just get it over with now and find out what she thought he'd done to her, or she'd most likely kill him before he found out why. He looked her straight in the eyes and smiled.  
  
"Miss Babcock, would you be so kind as to tell me what it is I'm supposed to have done to you?"  
  
Taking a few deep breaths and glaring right back at him she finally found her voice.  
  
"I'm pregnant," she spat out.  
  
His jaw fell to the floor for just a second, but he quickly composed himself.  
  
"You're what?"  
  
"I'm... pregnant," she repeated, her voice sounding almost surprised. She loosened her grip on his shirt and slowly walked over to a chair and sat down. Saying the words out loud for the first time, made it come a lot closer. It was suddenly real. Oh god, she was actually pregnant.  
  
Niles on the other hand hadn't grasped what she'd said yet. Why was she so mad at him? Okay, so she was pregnant, what did that have to do with him? It couldn't be because she thought he was ...  
  
"Wait a minute, Miss Babcock, are you trying to say that I'm supposed to be the father? Because if you are, you're even more crazy than I thought."  
  
She didn't give him an answer, but instead just looked up at him with a very expressive gleam in her eyes.  
  
"Oh, you're nuts. This is so far out-" he suddenly stopped and smiled mockingly at her. "Oh, nice try, Miss Yell-a-lot. I almost fell for it, but you're not getting one on me this time." Certain that it was a joke he felt more relaxed, first now realizing he'd been holding his breath. "This has to be the weirdest joke you ever tried on me. You are beginning to get good at it, I must admit. Your best so far."  
  
'He thought it was a joke!?'  
  
"A joke!?" she jumped out of the chair and began pacing like she always did when she got mad. "You think it's a joke? I'm gonna be the size of The Good- Year Blimp and you think it's a joke!" She yelled the last part in his face.  
  
"Oh, come on, Miss Babcock. How could it be anything else? We never-"  
  
"The wedding, remember? Or more precisely the night after, Mr. Ho-ho-ho?" she interrupted him.  
  
"But... but that's almost four months ago. If it true, why didn't you tell me sooner?  
  
"I just found out myself, for Christ sake!"  
  
Niles sank slowly down in a chair. What she was saying was finally beginning to seep into his brain, but could it really be true? Was he going to be a father? He couldn't believe it.  
  
"Sure you're not just dumping this on me because you don't remember the name of your last date, so I'm the easiest target, Miss Freebie?"  
  
"You bastard!" she yelled and slapped his cheek. Hard. With that, she was out the door before he could stop her.  
  
After she'd disappeared, he kept sitting at the table holding the cheek she'd slapped. He knew the answer to his question without anyone telling him. Hell, he probably knew her social life better than she did. And it was, if possibly, even more pathetic than his own. It was him. There were no other alternatives. A little smile appeared on his lips. He was going to be a father - and the mother was no less than the dragon-lady. Oh, the poor kid. No one was ever going to believe this.  
  
"Is she gone?" Fran peeked out from behind the kitchen door. Not seeing CC anywhere, she walked all the way inside. "So, what was all that about? Why was she so upset? And why are you smiling like that? Come on, dish, dish."  
  
Fran sat down beside Niles, but it was like he didn't notice her at all. He just kept staring into space, completely lost in his own thoughts. "Niles? Niles, what was it all about?" She put a hand on his arm and finally he came to be aware of her.  
  
"Huh? Oh, Mrs. Sheffield, it's you. Look I have to leave for a while, there is something I have to do. Don't worry about the fight. It wasn't about anything bad. Nothing bad at all." Niles got up and quickly left through the backdoor, grabbing his coat on the way out.  
  
"Nice talking to you, Niles!" she yelled after him. Fran looked at the door very puzzled. "Now I don't understand anything," she muttered to herself.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CC were a big jumble of feelings when she entered her apartment. First of all she was furious, because Niles hadn't believed her, but just made fun of her. She felt scared and hopeless, because she knew there was no way she could cope with this by herself. She, who was supposed to be able to do anything, had finally found one thing she knew she just couldn't do. And yet she had no choice. CC wanted to crawl under a blanket and stay there for the rest of her life.  
  
She threw her jacket and purse on the coffee table and went straight for the liquor-cabinet. A drink, she desperately needed a drink. She quickly poured a glass and was just about to drink it, when she suddenly saw her own reflection in the hall-way mirror. What had caught her eye were the size of her stomach. CC slowly sat the glass back down and walked closer to the mirror. It was quite visible that she definitively had grown bigger around the waist. How come she hadn't noticed it before? My god, and she was gonna get even bigger before this nightmare was over. Not being able to look at herself anymore, she walked back into the living-room and laid down on the couch.  
  
As she laid there staring up at the ceiling feeling the despair overwhelming her, there suddenly was someone banging at her front-door. She got up, while who ever it was kept banging away like he meant to break the door down.  
  
"Who is it?" she asked.  
  
"It's me, Niles. Open up Miss Babcock, I think me need to talk about a few things, don't you?"  
  
"Oh yeah, what? You don't believe me anyway."  
  
"Please, Miss Babcock, I do believe you. Now open the door, will you?"  
  
She sighed deeply and opened the door. "Why are you here?"  
  
"Like I said, we need to talk." He quickly walked inside and hung his coat in the closet. Then he took her by the arm and led her back to the couch.  
  
"Look, I think I'm beginning to get the picture here. Even though we don't remember it, we slept together at the wedding and now you're pregnant, right?" Well actually he remembered that night far too well, but if she wanted to forget it, fine by him.  
  
She clapped her hands a few times.  
  
"Bravo, Sherlock. Mystery solved. Now go home."  
  
"Oh, no. Now is when the interesting questions begins. Not about what has happened, but what's gonna happen." He sat down on the coffee-table opposite where she sat on the couch. "The first and most important one is: Do you want the baby?"  
  
"No! Of course I don't want it, isn't that obvious?"  
  
"Then let me have it."  
  
She looked at him as if he'd gone completely mad.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Let's go down to my doctor and say we'd like to switch so you're the one who's pregnant. Of course, no problem."  
  
"I meant after it's born, nit-wit. Since we can't return it and say we'd like a nice three-piece suite and a matching coffee-table instead, we might as well figure out now, what to do when it gets here. And since you don't want it, I would love to take it of your hands."  
  
She eyed him suspiciously. "Really?" This was almost too good to be true.  
  
"Survive the next five months, Miss Babcock, and you will never have to think about it ever again. I only have one condition."  
  
CC was ready to sell her soul to the devil for what he was offering. Trying not to let him know that, she remained as cool as she could.  
  
"Okay, what's the deal? A million dollars on top of it? Or maybe you want me to produce one of your lousy plays?"  
  
"No, even though both things would be nice. The deal is you have to let me in on everything that happens with the baby, like when it kicks, tell me how you feel it grow, when you feel sick and so on. I'm also to be allowed go with you to doctor's appointments, Lamaze classes and-" She looked at him very funny.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Why? Why do you want to do all that? - And I'm not taking Lamaze classes."  
  
"Oh yes, you are. Now that it's my child, you better do what I say or the deal's off." he threatened. Then his face turned soft and he smiled from ear to ear. "As for the 'why', I see this as my one shot at immortality, my one chance of ever becoming a father. This is probably... no, not probably, this is the greatest thing I've ever made and I want to be with it all the way - even before it's born. So is it a deal?"  
  
"Deal," she sighed.  
  
"Great! Miss Babcock, I'm gonna take so good care of you two, that when this is all over, you won't want to let me go." He got up and walked over to the liquor-cabinet where he began collecting the bottles on a tray.  
  
"Niles, I will most likely shoot you before Christmas, and what the hell are you doing with my best bourbon and scotch?"  
  
"I'm throwing it out. Knowing your thirst I'm not letting you have any booze in the house and you better stay completely sober or I will call of the deal."  
  
"But Niles I can't..." The way he looked at her made it very clear he meant what he said.  
  
"Okay, okay," she murmured, rolling her eyes.  
  
He walked into the kitchen and began pouring the content for the bottles down the sink, he kept talking to her.  
  
"Tomorrow I'll call your doctor and get an appointment as soon as possible. And I'll talk to Mr. Sheffield about your work hours, because I don't want you to work too much now. You musn't strain yourself. It's bad for the baby. I should go to the library to find some pregnancy-books - which you should read too, by the way. Maybe I should get the guestroom ready for you so you don't have to travel back and forth so much. Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl?"  
  
CC, still sitting on the couch, slowly laid down on it and stared once again up at the ceiling.  
  
Not getting an answer, Niles peeked out from the kitchen and saw her lying down.  
  
"Are you okay, Miss Babcock? Can I get you something? Water? A snack? Anything?"  
  
Putting a pillow over her face, CC thought to herself that she obviously had sold her soul to the devil, because if Niles was going to continue being like that, the next five months was sure to be hell.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You're what?!"  
  
"You heard me, Maxwell. And Nanny Fine just fainted." CC calmly looked at her boss as he and Niles helped Fran back up on her feet again.  
  
CC was glad they had agreed to wait a couple of days to spring the news on the Sheffields. It had given her a little time to get used to the idea of being pregnant. She definitively still didn't like it, but at least now she was able to say it out loud without feeling completely defeated and doomed.  
  
So far CC had only found one positive thing about this whole affair. She would finally have beaten Nanny Fine at something and she intended to milk it as much as she could. CC couldn't help smiling smugly.  
  
Fran was obviously still quite shaken, but that didn't stop her from talking.  
  
"Miss Babcock, you're pregnant? You're gonna have a baby? Before me?! But I... I'm the one who finally got married. I can't believe this. Ma is gonna kill me," she paused a second and pointed at CC "-or maybe she's gonna kill you. Either way it's not going to be pretty."  
  
"But... but CC, you haven't been seeing anyone lately, have you?" Maxwell interrupted his wife, knowing she would go on until someone stopped her. "Who's the father? Do we know the man?"  
  
CC smiled like a necrophiliac in a morgue. Sometimes they just asked for it - it was almost too easy.  
  
"Yes, you both know him. You know him quite well actually."  
  
"Well, who is he then?"  
  
Niles and CC looked at each other. Oh, this was going to be so good. Niles casually walked over to stand next to CC. She put a hand on his shoulder, their eyes still locked on each other. Then they both turned their heads and looked at the Sheffields.  
  
Maxwell just stared at them, mouth open and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, but it looks like Mrs. Sheffield has passed out again."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The following weeks were weird for CC. So much happened and so many changes were imposed on her that she didn't know what to do. On some account she was glad Niles took care of everything, but on the other hand it annoyed her to the point where she felt like screaming.  
  
In just three days he had almost redone her entire apartment. To make it more 'comfortable' he said. 'Comfortable, my ass.' Now she couldn't find anything anymore. And if that wasn't enough her refrigerator was completely transformed. Her beloved cheesecake and Chinese left-overs were gone and had been replaced by an incredible amount of greens and fruits. Milk substituted for the coke-bottles. The only thing he'd let her keep was the bottled water. And to top it all, his argument for doing all this to her - "It's what's best for my baby, so learn to live with it!" She was steaming with fury.  
  
All this she might be able to get used to, but what bothered her the most was when Niles dragged her all over town, just to be places she didn't want to be and see people she didn't want to see.  
  
For instance their first doctor's appointment. That was an experience CC never wanted to repeat ever again.  
  
Even though the appointment was for her, Niles was the one doing all the talking. CC just sat in a chair, arms crossed, trying to ignore both Niles and her doctor.  
  
At first she had tried to follow their conversation, but she quickly gave up. Even though they'd both been around Mrs. Sheffield #1, when she had been pregnant, Niles obviously knew a lot more about the subject than she did and he and the doctor just blabbered on and on without explaining anything. Either she had no idea what they talked about or the little she understood scared the living crap out of her. So she ignored them.  
  
A touch on her arm interrupted her in her effort to think about something else. It was Niles trying to get her attention.  
  
"Miss Babcock, when will you have time for an ultrasound?"  
  
"Why should I want an ultrasound?" She was still on the defensive side.  
  
"Don't you want to know the sex of your baby?" Dr. Aaronson asked.  
  
"No!"  
  
Both men looked at her rather funny as if she'd grown a second head or something.  
  
"Look, both of you. The only reason I'm here is because Niles forced me, so take as many tests as you like, but don't tell me the results unless they show that I'm dying, tell him" She pointed at Niles. "It's all his fault anyway," she muttered.  
  
Niles couldn't help chuckle. She was going to blame this on him for the rest of his life, even though it was actually her who'd been the aggressive part that night. Not that he'd disliked it, not at all.  
  
CC continued, ignoring his grin. "The only thing I want to know is when this nightmare's gonna be over."  
  
Dr. Aaronson looked down at his papers. "Well, your calculated due-date is February 4th, but you should know that it's only an educated guess. He or she may want to arrive from two weeks before this date to two weeks after and still be within normal range."  
  
"So maybe I should just book all of January and February, just to be sure?" she said sarcastically.  
  
Dr. Aaronson couldn't help laughing. He loved his client's sense of humour. And from the looks he'd been sending her while they'd been there, apparently so did the father of her child. He also noticed that Niles was so good at hiding his fascination for her, that CC wasn't aware of it at all.  
  
"Why are you collecting your things, Miss Babcock?" Niles voice disrupted the doctors thoughts.  
  
"Why do you think, Windex? I'm going home."  
  
"But we haven't finished talking!" He had to yell the last part, because she had already out the door.  
  
"You might not, floor mop, but WE have!" she yelled back.  
  
Dr. Aaronson looked at Niles, who just smiled, shaking his head a little. Silently the doctor sent the baby a 'good luck' thought. With those two as it's parents it was sure to be needing it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles loved the prospect of becoming a father. Every single little annoying detail of it. Seeing it grow inside Miss Babcock, looking for baby things, having Miss Babcock yelling at him for doing it to her, dreaming about it, just the whole feeling of fatherhood made him smile all the time. The fact that he could irritate Miss Babcock with it was just icing on the cake.  
  
He read a lot of books on pregnancies in record time. The same day he read that the baby was able to distinguish between different voices already when it was still a foetus, he began talking to it.  
  
The first time he had bend down and talked to her stomach, Miss Babcock had been sure he'd finally gone senile and had told him so, with a few very expressive adjectives attached.  
  
She had accepted it after a rather short fight though. She must have been tired. She had accepted a surprising lot of things after relatively short fights. There was actually only one thing she persistently refused to do, no matter how much he threatened or begged her. It had been their biggest fight ever.  
  
"It is not tiring me, Niles!"  
  
"Oh, please. I know you better than you know yourself on that point. You're so stubborn you would have to pass out from fatigue before admitting you might be a little tired."  
  
"That's not true and you know it!"  
  
"But you have to rest. I will not have you putting my child at risk just because you want to work your butt off - even though that would take more work than one person could do in a lifetime."  
  
"Listen Dust Bunny, I don't care what you say, I'm not cutting down"  
  
She was just not giving in this time, so it was time to bring on the heavy artillery.  
  
"I'll call off the deal if you don't." That line had worked as a very good trump card in resent arguments - but not in this one.  
  
"I don't care, Niles. I have to work."  
  
At that point he knew he had lost, but that didn't mean the fight was over.  
  
"Why? Why are you willing to risk the well-being of our baby, just because you want to work?"  
  
"You really don't get it, do you? It's not a question of want to work, I have to work." She sighed and looked down at her hands. "This is who I am, co-producer in Sheffield/Babcock Production, a workaholic. It's all I have Niles, don't take it away from me."  
  
This strong, confident woman had looked up at him with pleading eyes and he knew he had lost the battle. When she looked at him like that he could deny her nothing. If only she knew the power she had over him. Not knowing what to say Niles just bent down, said good-bye to her stomach and left.  
  
The subject was never brought up again.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
There were many different reactions to the news of CC's pregnancy. The choreographer at their current play quit on the spot not being able to cope with the vision of a pregnant CC with mood swings yelling at him. CC's mother was surprisingly calm until she heard who the father was. Then she fainted. Most people had to see it before believing it, but the weirdest reaction came from Fran.  
  
Fran took CC's condition as a slap in the face and a challenge to overcome. If CC could have a baby so could she! So after the news about the pregnancy, there was a period of time where CC had to do a lot of the work in the office by herself because Maxwell was rather preoccupied by his wife. She wanted to have that baby as fast as possible!  
  
In difference to most of Fran's other "projects" she actually succeeded in this one - and fast too. So it was already in the beginning of October she proudly announced to the children that they were gonna have a new brother or sister arriving sometime in the spring.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was about a month after the initial shock of the prospect of motherhood, CC for the first time really got a taste of what was actually happening to her.  
  
They had been working late one evening finishing up some contracts. CC was sitting in her usual spot on the green leather couch - only she didn't really look her usual self anymore. She had trouble fitting into her business suits and dresses so she was glad she still had some of her old "fat"clothes lying in the closet. Now wearing sweatshirt and pants and with her stocking feet up on the couch she looked the perfect image of relaxation, even though she was working hard and concentrated.  
  
Deeply engrossed in some papers she suddenly felt a slight pain in her stomach. Thinking she probably just ate too much of Niles' wonderful pudding she ignored it at first. When it came back a few minutes later, now a little stronger, she couldn't help a muffled moan. Maxwell looked at her.  
  
"Are you alright, CC?"  
  
"I don't know. Niles probably put something weird in my tea. It felt like someone punched me in the stomach."  
  
Maxwell smiled. "Someone probably did - from the inside" He looked back down at his desk and chuckled slightly.  
  
CC went completely silent. Maxwell noticed it and looked back up at her. Her face was white as a sheet and her eyes looked very frightened. He got up and walked over to the couch.  
  
"CC, what's the matter?"  
  
"That was the baby kicking?" she whispered.  
  
"Most likely. You are 5 months along. It would only be natural to feel it by now. Actually I'm surprised you haven't felt it before." He sat down beside her and took her trembling hands in his.  
  
"Maxwell, I can't do this, it's too much." Then almost inaudibly she whispered. "I'm so scared."  
  
Knowing how difficult it was for her to utter those words, he enveloped her in his arms and she put her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Oh CC, there is nothing to be afraid of. You'll manage this just fine, like you do everything else."  
  
"But it's a real baby. It just kicked me!"  
  
"That is what babies do most of the time."  
  
"You're not helping me here," she pulled away from him.  
  
"CC, honestly, you have nothing to be afraid of. We're all here to help you through it. That is if you want us to. I know how scaring it is to become a parent. Remember how jumpy I was when Sara was expecting Margaret?"  
  
Oh yeah, CC remembered. He'd been impossible to be around for almost an entire year.  
  
"I remember. Sara just had to cough a little and you were ready to drive her to the hospital to check for pneumonia. But Maxwell, don't you see that is one of the scary things about this whole ordeal. Sara had you and now Fran needs you. While I - I don't have anyone to care for me."  
  
"Hmm... You do have Niles," he said carefully.  
  
"Gee thanks a lot. It's a really big comfort to know the only one I have is a man who hates my guts, laughs at me and who's hobby is making up new nicknames for me. Now I feel a lot better!"  
  
"CC, I know this is a frightening time for you, but please don't be too rough on Niles. Actually I think he insults you because he doesn't know what else to say to you. But if you want me to I can talk to him about stopping it."  
  
"Thanks, but no. I would probably be bored to death in no time if I didn't have him to yell at. Besides I can fight my own battles."  
  
"Yes I know. I'm serious though, don't be too rough on him, especially when it concerns his baby. He told me about your deal - and between you and me I think he's sometimes scared to death he might have done something that will make you call it off."  
  
"Really?" 'Could Niles really be as insecure about all this as she was?'  
  
"Really. Remember you're only stuck with it for about four more months. He's chosen to be stuck with it for life."  
  
His words really had her thinking. There were so many aspects of this ordeal that hadn't even crossed her mind before now. She had never really considered Niles' feelings in all this. With her mind preoccupied with these thoughts, she barely noticed Maxwell speaking to her.  
  
"Huh? Sorry, what did you say?"  
  
"I just asked if you're feeling any better now."  
  
"Yes. Yes I think I am. And Maxwell..."  
  
"Mhhmmm?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Any time CC, any time."  
  
And they went back to work.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next afternoon she was in the kitchen to get a bottle of water, when the baby kicked again. Still not used to movements she let out a small "Ouch".  
  
Niles looked at her.  
  
"Is something the matter?"  
  
"No, I'm fine."  
  
"I'm serious, if you're in any kind of pain and you're not telling me, I'll -"  
  
"Niles, I told you I'm fine! It was just your little demon kicking me."  
  
His eyes grew wide as saucers and she couldn't help smiling at the expression of utter shock on his face.  
  
"The baby kicked?" he whispered. She nodded.  
  
He walked closer to her and reached out his hand as if to touch her stomach, but stopped half-way there and clenched it. She watched Niles' body and face so clearly expressing the eagerness to feel his baby, but also the restraint, the fear of how she would react to his touch.  
  
She couldn't deny him this. Besides they had a deal. At least that was what she told herself.  
  
"It's okay, Niles. You can feel for yourself if you want to."  
  
His face lit up in a big smile. He knelt down before her and gently put his hand on her T-shirt covered belly. Slowly he ran it over the small bulge where his baby was, hoping it would kick again. CC looked down at him. He seemed completely spell-bound by her stomach.  
  
Suddenly he took his hand away and put the side of his face in it's place. She could feel his cheek and ear through the fabric. Okay, this was becoming way too chummy. She was about to pull away when the baby chose to give her a big punch. He obviously felt it too, because he smiled up at her with shining eyes.  
  
"I felt it kick!" His voice was as happy as could be, joyful at this new experience with their baby. Before she had time to move away from him, he put his cheek back up against her stomach.  
  
She looked down at him. His enthusiasm once again surprised her. He really loved that little thing growing inside her. She felt kind of envious of him, he had so many positive feelings towards this little someone he hadn't even met yet. Feelings so foreign to her. CC didn't know it, but a bit of the wall she had built around her heart broke down at that moment.  
  
Now with his head next to her belly, she was content with just watching his emotions. She looked at his full head of hair, remembering the feel of it through her fingers that night more than two years ago. She hoped their child would inherit that from him. Unaware of what she was doing, she let a hand run through his hair, enjoying the soft feel of it.  
  
Surprised at this gesture he looked up at her. She realized what she was doing and yanked her hand away.  
  
"Ehh... I... you... there was a piece of lint." 'Oh, nice save, CC.'  
  
He looked into her eyes, silently asking questions she couldn't answer. This was getting far too emotional so she did what she always did where she felt uncomfortable. She fled.  
  
"I have to get back to work," and she was out the door, leaving behind a very puzzled Niles still on his knees.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
November began and so did CC's Lamaze classes. Or as Niles came to think of them: "Torture Disguised As An Ante-Natal Class". It was himself who had insisted on attending and there was no way he was backing out now, but those 45 minutes once a week was a real trial for him.  
  
"Will you stop groping me all the time!" CC snapped while trying to get away from his hands.  
  
"If you'd listened to the instructor for just one second you'd know this is how I'm supposed to hold you. And believe me I don't like it one bit more than you do," he snapped back.  
  
Well, it wasn't a complete lie. Only the reason he didn't like it was the feelings it stirred inside him. He wanted to keep his hands there a lot longer than they needed to be. Niles took a deep breath and tried to think about something else.  
  
In an attempt to ignore Niles, CC looked at the other women in the class. They looked like they'd swallowed beach-balls! How could they possibly move? To her great horror she realized that in a few months she was going to be that size too. This was more than CC could take so she turned her attention back to Niles. Fighting with him, was at least familiar.  
  
"Why are we here anyway? I know how to breathe if you haven't noticed." She took a deep breath to demonstrate. 'Boy, is he smelling good.'  
  
"The exercises are supposed to lighten the labour so you better be attentive." 'Why does it have to feel so good to touch her?'  
  
"Why? I intent to be deeply unconscious when little junior here comes into the world." 'How come I never noticed his scent before?'  
  
"No, you're not. I'm not letting you drug my baby." 'She'd kill me if she knew what pictures I have in me head, when I touch her.'  
  
"Your baby? As far as I can see I am the one carrying it, so I believe the right term would be our baby." 'That perfume should be illegal!'  
  
"Shhh..." The instructor quieted them down. "If the Babcocks would be so kind as to shut up for just a second we could all go on with the next exercise."  
  
"The Babcocks?" Niles whispered to CC.  
  
"Yes, the Babcocks," she whispered back. "I'm not about to let them know I'm not married. And now shut up!"  
  
They turned their attention toward the others, none of them too happy about being interrupted in the middle of such a good bantering.  
  
The rest of the class went by rather quietly but someone, who knew the couple well, would have noticed the look of envy on both their faces, when they looked at the other couples exchanging hugs and kisses.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
November went by far too quickly and December arrived. Angels, hearts and the smell of pine began to fill the mansion putting everybody in the Christmas spirit.  
  
Niles had actually done as he had suggested in the beginning and made the guest room ready for CC so that whenever she wanted she could spend the night. As she grew bigger and bigger she used the opportunity more frequently. She claimed it was because Niles' little demon made it impossible for her to move around easily enough to get in and out of cabs all the time. It was true but secretly she also enjoyed the family feeling there was in the house especially around Christmas time. And it gave her more opportunities to order Niles around - a hobby she thoroughly enjoyed.  
  
He really puzzled her some times. He still insulted her, called her names and played little tricks on her whenever he could, but something had changed. When she asked him to do something for her - or rather ordered him to do it - he did it. He didn't even complain about it, he just did it.  
  
At first when she found out she exploited it as much as she could, but it soon lost it's appeal. It just wasn't fun when he didn't have a come-back for her or at least complained about it.  
  
She had also caught him staring at her sometimes. The look in his eyes made her feel very odd. And he always had a faint smile lurking in the corner of his mouth when he looked at her like that. It made him seem like he knew a secret about her. A deep dark secret. The kind of secret you definitively don't want other people to know about. She wished she knew what went on inside his head.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CC turned to lay on her left side and tried to fall asleep. Three minutes later she turned on to her back. Shortly after she tried her right side. She just couldn't find a comfortable position so she could get some sleep. Her usual one, laying face down, was unfortunately out of the question.  
  
Well, if she couldn't get any sleep maybe she should get something to eat. Yes, that was a good idea. There had to be some leftovers of Niles' delicious cooking in the fridge.  
  
As she approached the kitchen she heard a scraping sound from within it. What was that? Maybe a burglar? She reached for one of Maxwell's Tonys, when a very familiar whine calmed her down.  
  
"Niles, is there any more of your lasagna left?"  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Sheffield, there's plenty."  
  
CC walked through the door. "Is there enough for me too?"  
  
"Hi Miss Babcock. You couldn't sleep either, huh?"  
  
"Isn't that kind of obvious Nanny Fine? Well, is there enough, Gruesome Gourmet?" She sat down at the kitchen table next to Nanny Fine.  
  
"Of course there is, Night Stalker. With two pregnant women in the house I know I have to make double of everything, even though I thought you preferred fresh corpses this time of night."  
  
"We can't all be ghouls like you, Niles." Niles put down two fully loaded plates of lasagna in front of the women.  
  
"Thanks Niles," they both mumbled and began eating. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down next them. They both ate like there might not be any food for them tomorrow. He chuckled lightly.  
  
"What?" CC asked between two mouthfuls.  
  
"Oh, nothing. You might want to know though, that breakfast will be served in just 4 hours in case you want to leave a little room for it. That is of course if you've finished by then."  
  
Fran looked at him a bit offended.  
  
"If you must know we're eating for four people here. We're supposed to eat a lot," she stated. "And I'm not about to complain about it either," she muttered to herself. The others heard her though and couldn't help a little laugh.  
  
CC just had to comment on his remark too.  
  
"Me neither and who are you to talk about eating habits, Sir Lunch-a-lot?"  
  
Fran let out such a loud, raucous laugh CC was sure it could be heard all the way to Jersey. When Fran finally calmed down CC had cleared both plates completely. She rubbed her belly with satisfaction.  
  
"Ahhh. That really helped a lot. How about you, Nanny Fine?"  
  
"Well the little you let me eat was delicious but I'm still very much awake. I really could use some warm milk. Niles...?"  
  
"Sure, Mrs. Sheffield. You two go and get comfortable in the living-room and I'll bring some for both of you in a few minutes, okay?"  
  
"Thanks Niles."  
  
Fran and CC got up and waddled (that was at least what CC felt she was doing) into the living-room where they flopped down on the couch. After a little while Fran eyed CC with tilted head.  
  
"What now?"  
  
"Miss Babcock there is something I've been meaning to talk to you about, but I don't know quite how to say it."  
  
"One word at a time usually works fine when I try it," CC said and snuggled deeper into the couch. "So, what is it?"  
  
"It's your clothes."  
  
"What about my clothes?"  
  
"They make you look fat," Fran said very fast and backed away from CC as if she was avoiding a blow. CC hadn't tried to strike her though, she just shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, so? In case you haven't noticed it I am fat."  
  
"No you're not. You're pregnant."  
  
"Same thing."  
  
"Oh, no. Being fat is something you want to hide, a pregnant stomach is something to be proud of, something to show to the world."  
  
"When you have it because you've been knocked up by a butler, it isn't."  
  
"Yes it is, no matter who the father is. And you could be stuck with someone a lot worse than Niles, believe me I've dated most of them. Back to what I wanted to say. I intent to take you shopping tomorrow. It will make you feel real good about yourself."  
  
"Let me guess; you won't take no for an answer?"  
  
"Exactly. Oh, it's going to be so much fun, just the two of us together on a shopping spree."  
  
"Why do you want to go shopping with me at all? You've never shown any interest before."  
  
"Because I want to make sure you're buying something I can borrow, when I get to be as big as you are."  
  
"Gee, thanks a lot."  
  
"I meant it in a positive way, Miss Babcock."  
  
Luckily Niles came in with the warm milk at that moment or World War III might have had its beginning. Niles served the women and sat down in the chair with a glass too. The three of them sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a while until Fran got up and went to bed.  
  
CC had put her legs up on the couch and she'd slowly been sliding down so now she was more lying down than sitting up.  
  
Niles looked at her. If it wasn't because she'd closed her eyes CC would have noticed Niles had that look in his eyes. That look that made her fell strange and uneasy.  
  
She was so beautiful. He has once heard that no woman was more beautiful to a man than the one carrying his child. Niles didn't know who had said it, but he couldn't agree more. Not that she hadn't been beautiful before, but now nothing would ever compared to her.  
  
Niles could see she was almost asleep. He had this strong urge to just sit and watch her sleep, but he knew he wouldn't be very popular with her in the morning if he did.  
  
"Miss Babcock?" His voice was almost a whisper. No reaction at all. "Miss Babcock?" he said a little louder. Still no reaction. He got up from the chair and walked over to the couch. He gently put a hand on her stomach. He leaned closer and very quiet whispered to her stomach.  
  
"Hi, in there. It's me, your dad. How's it hanging in there?" He felt a slight kick. "That well, huh? Well, I can imagine so. Listen, could you do me a favour? This whole pregnancy thing is a bit scary and difficult for your mother to handle, so be gentle with her, okay?" He felt another kick. CC stirred a bit and he reluctantly pulled his hand away. He moved closer to her head.  
  
"Miss Babcock? Miss Babcock, are you awake?" 'Stupid question, you fool.' He shook her shoulder lightly. "Come on Miss Babcock, wake up."  
  
"Hhmmm?" She opened first one eye, then the other. Sleepily she rubbed her face with the back of her hand and yawned. "Niles? What do you want?"  
  
'To kiss you,' his treacherous inner voice said. He ignored it. "I just thought you might be more comfortable in your bed than here on the couch."  
  
"You woke me just for that? I was doing fine here." She stretched her entire body from her fingertips to her toes and Niles felt his heart jump a beat.  
  
"Sure you don't want to go upstairs?" He really had to concentrate to stay focused on the conversation.  
  
She closed her eyes again and mumbled "Only if you carry me up there."  
  
"Okay, the couch it is then."  
  
She smiled at that as she turned onto her side and almost immediately fell asleep again.  
  
Niles kept looking at her a long while before he fetched a blanket and covered her with it. As he tucked it around her he whispered to himself.  
  
"Some day I'm going to tell you how much I love you. Some day." And then he went back to his own bed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CC would most likely never admit it, but she had actually enjoyed her day of shopping with Nanny Fine (as she with persistent stubbornness kept calling her) and her wardrobe definitively improved after it. She had had no idea they made maternity clothes so gorgeous now a days. The new clothes made her feel beautiful again and her mood became better with every item she bought - and she bought a lot.  
  
All this shopping didn't help Niles much. Actually it did quite the opposite. The extra laundry was okay, ironing her dresses four times before she was satisfied he could live with, it was when she wore them he had a problem.  
  
Before when she wore big baggy sweaters, he could sometimes forget the curves she hid underneath. Now they were all too visible to him. Most of her new clothes were just more comfortable than her old, but some of it was, in Niles opinion, down right sexy and far too often he found himself staring at her.  
  
The amount of cold showers increased considerably.  
  
Go on to Part Two 


	2. part 2

Junior  
  
(or "How you realize Life's little surprises might not be as bad as you used to think.")  
  
Part Two  
  
by Mette (mette_kjoller@yahoo.com)  
  
Christmas made a sneak-attack and surprised everyone like it did every year and the mansion was in a constant state of panic the last couple of days before Christmas. Despite it all everything seemed to be in order after a very hectic stressful December 24th and all seven (more or less permanent) members of the Sheffields household went to sleep looking forward to the next day.  
  
CC woke by someone's scream. She almost fell out of the bed, threw on a robe and ran downstairs. When she saw what the screaming was all about she calmed down completely. Maggie was hugging everyone while waving a car-key. CC remembered her own first car and smiled in understanding of the girl's excitement. She slowly climbed down the stairs (you don't walk when your stomach is the size of a prize-winning watermelon).  
  
Niles came in to the living-room, he saw CC descending the stairs and everything that went on around him turned into a fuzzy blur.  
  
Her hair was sleep-tousled, she had no make-up on, she wore an old, faded pink flannel robe, but he was spellbound. He faintly heard her wish everybody a Merry Christmas and he heard himself return the greeting, but it didn't seem to have passed trough his brain at all. He gave himself a mental kick.  
  
'Niles, wake up! Don't just stand there like a fool. Do something!' his thoughts yelled at him.  
  
The Sheffields had begun putting on their overcoats so they could go out and try Maggie's new car. He hurried to the door and helped them. When they had left he kept standing in the open doorway watching the snow fall on the sidewalk.  
  
"Niles?" CC's voice startled him a bit.  
  
"Yes, Miss Babcock?"  
  
"Could you either close the damn door or bring me a really thick blanket?"  
  
"I'm sorry." He closed the door and walked over to the couch where she was sitting. "You're not ill, are you?"  
  
"Not that I know of. Why?"  
  
"You just asked me to do something and you did it almost politely."  
  
"Well, it's only Christmas once a year, thank heavens for that, and I thought what the heck; it's just one day. But don't get used to it Dough Boy, tomorrow I'm back to normal."  
  
"Thank god for small favours," he said and sat down besides her.  
  
'Give it to her,' his inner voice said to him. 'Give it to her now! Don't be such a big wimp, do it!' He took a deep breath and turned towards her.  
  
"Miss Babcock?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I... ehhh..." 'Say it, say it!' "I know we've never exchanged gifts before, but I found this yesterday and it made me think of you." He pulled a small box out of his pocket. "It's nothing big and it's okay if you don't like it." He put the box in her hand.  
  
She looked at it with knitted brow. "You bought a gift for me?"  
  
"Yes, now open it."  
  
She slowly loosened the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a thin silver necklace with five little silver pendants. When she picked up the necklace to take a closer look, she saw they were letters.  
  
M-O-M-M-Y.  
  
"Mommy?" What the hell did he mean by "Mommy"?  
  
"Blast, the sales-girl spelled it wrong. It was supposed to say 'Mummy' so it would be a label to fit that ancient body of yours," he said in an attempt to lighten the mood.  
  
She didn't say anything, she just kept looking at it. 'Oh, my god, I am going to be a mom soon.'  
  
"I can get the letters changed if you want," he offered when she remained silent.  
  
"No! No, Niles they're just fine. I'm just so embarrassed." She looked at him with tears in her eyes.  
  
"Embarrassed? About what?" Niles had to sit on his hands or he would have reached over and wiped them away.  
  
"You got me this beautiful necklace and I don't have anything for you."  
  
"Oh, but you do."  
  
"I do?" She tried to blink the tears away. He couldn't take it anymore and wiped her tears away with a fingertip.  
  
"Yes. Right here." He let his fingers caress her stomach. "It's going to be a bit delayed, but that's okay by me. A month more or less is nothing compared to it."  
  
"But Niles it's not the same."  
  
"You're right, it's not. What I gave you is just a small gift, what you're giving me is priceless."  
  
She didn't know what to say so she just looked at his hand, puzzled as if she first noticed it now. It was still caressing her stomach. He pulled it away, now realizing that he'd kept doing it.  
  
"No, don't stop. It was kind of nice." He put his hand back and doodled small circles with his fingers.  
  
"Miss Babcock, I don't know how-"  
  
"Shut up Niles. Just shut up, okay?" He was confusing the hell out of her and if he said or did anymore nice things for her, she didn't know what she might do. She leaned back into the cushions and sighed. It felt really good what he was doing to her.  
  
Niles nodded and leaned back too. His mind actually had a lot to say to her, but his body decided against it. It was having itself way too god a time at the moment and didn't want to spoil it.  
  
When the Sheffields returned they found the two of them sleeping. CC leaned her head on Niles shoulder and Niles' hand had remained resting on CC's stomach. Maxwell and Fran looked at each other and smiled knowingly. They quietly sneaked in to the kitchen, leaving the sleeping couple alone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After that episode their bantering quieted down a bit. They still called each other names and played tricks, but the yelling subsided noticeably. Sometimes they even came close to being nice to each other.  
  
When CC had entered her third trimester everyone had expected her to begin to be impossible, that the hormones raging through her body would make her more irritable and moody than she already was. Quite the opposite happened.  
  
No-one had ever experienced a more calm and relaxed CC and the closer the birth came the more pleasant she became. It was almost scary. Niles figured it made sense; normal, nice women became witches because of the hormones - CC who normally behaved like a witch was now mostly nice and - well almost normal.  
  
Her new improved mood was probably the only reason Maxwell let her attend a dress rehearsal only two weeks before the birth. CC had never been very good at timing things and the birth was no exception. It would most likely collide with the opening of their new show, so she was glad she at least got to see the dress rehearsal.  
  
She shifted position in the uncomfortable seat and looked at the stage. A prop-guy was putting the last things in their places. She moved a little again. This damn pain in her lower back and hips. Dr. Aaronson had told her to expect it, especially considering how much she moved around. Damn doctor, why did he have to be right all the time? It was killing her, but there was no way she was telling Maxwell she was in pain. He would just send her home and she wanted to see that play! Even if it killed her!  
  
'Oh bugger. Bathroom-time again,' she thought. 'I'm only going to see one third of the whole play with all these blasted trips.' She got up and made her way towards the ladies' room.  
  
Three minutes later she was back.  
  
"Maxwell?" She began walking up to the stage. He didn't appear anywhere. "Maxwell?!" she called a little louder. He finally peeked out from behind a curtain.  
  
"Yes. What is it CC, we're about to begin in a few minutes."  
  
"I know Maxwell, I just have one little question."  
  
"Okay what is it?"  
  
"I was just wondering how much water there is when the water breaks?"  
  
"Your water broke?" he almost shouted. He jumped off stage and almost ran up to her.  
  
"I think so, yes. And you don't have to yell, I'm not deaf."  
  
He quickly found his mobile phone in his inside pocket. "I'll warn the hospital that we're coming and then I'll call Niles and tell him to bring your bags. We can take the Porsche, it's right out front and-"  
  
"Maxwell, calm down. Let me get my purse and we can make the calls when we're in the car." She retrieved her purse and turned to him. "Okay, let's go. Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
"Why aren't you panicking?"  
  
"I'll have plenty of time for that later, right now I need to get to that hospi-" She grabbed hold of the back of a seat to steady herself as she felt a contraction "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Oh, that hurt! And could we get there fast, please?"  
  
They were soon in the car and since Maxwell did the steering, CC was handling the phone calls. The hospital was quickly notified and now the only problem was to get a hold of Niles.  
  
"Sheffield residence" It was Nanny Fine at the other end.  
  
"Nanny Fine, is Niles there? I need to talk to him."  
  
"No, Miss Babcock, he's out shopping at the moment. Can I take a message for him."  
  
"Yes, could you tell him to... Arrrggghhhhhhhh!" Another contraction hit her.  
  
"Okay, and how do you spell that? Heh heh heh. Sorry Miss Babcock. Why were you screaming?"  
  
"I had a contraction if you must know. Just tell him to fetch my baby bag and bring it to me at St. Mary's, okay?"  
  
"My god, you're in labour?! Why didn't you say so, I'll bring it right away."  
  
"Nanny Fine, NO! Fran, please. It's more important you stay there and tell Niles what's going on, when he comes back. Would you do that for me? Please."  
  
"Sure Miss Babcock, no problem. See you later." And they hung up.  
  
"Maxwell you're staring at me again."  
  
"You called her Fran."  
  
"And? It's her name isn't it? Can't you make this piece of junk go any faster?"  
  
Maxwell stepped on the gas. He knew you don't argue with a woman in labour. Not if you cared for your live anyway.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles was in no hurry to get home. He knew CC would be at the theatre most of the day, so there were no real reason to hang around the mansion. Mrs. Sheffield would probably make him cook strange kinds of food for her or have him rub her feet now that Mr. Sheffield was at the theatre. He would do anything to avoid that last one.  
  
Thank god Miss Babcock hadn't had strange cravings of any kind. Well, there was one thing, but he didn't know if it qualified as a craving. The last month she had been rather obsessed with talking - talking to the baby to be exact.  
  
Almost from the beginning of it all Niles had talked to her stomach, but he had kept it on a low level, as not to upset her unnecessary. If only he had known. He smiled as he clearly remembered the afternoon when he had discovered her little secret.  
  
He'd been about to bring her a tray with tea and cake, when her voice made him stop just outside the half-open office door. It wasn't that she was talking that made him stop, but the voice she was using. She sounded like a teacher, patiently trying to teach a child the important things in life. Being the chronic snoop he was, he leaned closer to the door and listened.  
  
"And this is the filing cabinet. It is very important to keep it in order or you won't be able to find anything. Let's see, this first file is blue, that means it's an actor, so it goes in the top drawer with all the other blue actor files. This isn't so hard, is it?"  
  
Niles was very puzzled. 'Was she training an intern to fill in for her or something?'  
  
"Where is the blasted tea? Can't the man do anything right?" There was a short silence, then he heard her flop down on the couch and sigh. "Well, I guess he can or you wouldn't be here, right Junior?"  
  
He couldn't take it anymore. He had to know who she was talking to. He straightened up, walked inside and put the tray on the desk. Then he looked around but saw no one but Miss Babcock there. He looked again. Still no one but Miss Babcock. He had to know, he just had to know.  
  
"Okay, who were you talking to just now?"  
  
"Talking? I haven't been talking to anyone since Maxwell left almost an hour ago." She tried to look as if it was the truth, but she didn't fool him for a second.  
  
"Yes, you were. I heard you." He eyed her suspiciously. "Have you begun talking to yourself, Miss Babcock?"  
  
"NO!" She seemed highly offended. The she turned - well, if he didn't know her better he would have sworn she looked shy. "I was just talking a little to..." She stopped and for the first time ever Niles saw her blush. Only a little but she definitively blushed.  
  
"Yes, you were talking to...?" he encouraged her.  
  
She collected herself. "I was talking to the baby, okay? All the books says there's nothing wrong with that," 'She read pregnancy books?' "and you do it too, so don't start making fun of me. It's only when Maxwell isn't here. It's good to have someone else to talk to and you better remove that grin from your face pretty fast or I'll help you rearrange it all together."  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't help it. Believe me I'm not laughing at you, I just never would have expected this from you. For how long have you been doing that?" He leaned up against the desk. When she didn't respond he crossed his arms and said with a firm voice: "Come on tell me, remember you promised to share this kind of stuff with me."  
  
"Okay, okay, but if you tell anyone about this you'll be very sorry you ever met me."  
  
"I already am, but I swear I'll never tell a living soul. Scout's honor."  
  
"Well, remember the Lamaze class last week? You were totally ignoring me and just talked to Junior all the time."  
  
"Junior? Dr. Aaronson told you it is a boy?" he asked surprised. Was she keeping more secrets from him?  
  
"No. I just have this feeling and it's something better to say than "it". Now shut up if you want to hear the story, okay?"  
  
Niles nodded and made as if he was zipping his mouth closed.  
  
"Well, you were yapping on as usual and the two of you must have a connection of some kind, because he responded by moving around all the time. Every time you opened your mouth, he either kicked me or rolled over. After you dropped me off at my apartment he kept running around in there like a guinea pig on a treadmill and he just wouldn't stop. Nothing helped. After having tried everything without any result in the right direction, I figured I might as well try and do what you do. You know talking to it. To my great surprise it worked. After five minutes Junior completely calmed down. It must have been my soothing voice compared to your grunts that did the trick. Anyway I tried it again the next day and now it's become kind of a habit." She hadn't looked at him during her long speech, but now she turned to him. "That's it. Happy now?"  
  
"Deliriously happy. Thank you for telling me, Miss Babcock. Enjoy you tea." He made his way to the door, but when he reached the door he turned towards her again. "If you want me to, I can stop talking to it - to Junior. I mean if it causes you too much trouble and disturbance."  
  
She thought about it a little, then she shook her head. "No. Thanks, but no. I figure the better you two know each other before the birth the easier it will be for all of us afterwards, when you get him... her, it, whatever."  
  
He had been quite amazed. She was doing thing she had sworn she would never ever do. She had reacted on instinct, shown felling for the baby and it had actually worked. He just wished she had some feelings for him as well.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
With all this on his mind, Niles opened the front door, walked inside and made a lot of noise when he fell over something. "What the-" he had time to utter, then he hit the floor with a crash.  
  
"Niles is that you?" Mrs. Sheffield came into the living-room. "Oh, my god, Niles are you okay?"  
  
"Yes, yes I think so." He got up from the floor and straightened his clothes with his hands. "Why is Miss Babcock's baby bag down here?"  
  
"Because she needs it. She called a little over an hour ago to say that she's in labour and that she wants you to bring her bag to her at the hospital."  
  
"What?" Niles asked shocked.  
  
"Miss Babcock is in labour! I put it there so you didn't have to bring it down. Niles, that's the wrong way!" Fran ran after Niles, who had disappeared in to the office. She found him going through a drawer.  
  
"Niles, what are you doing?"  
  
"Looking for this," he said as he pulled out a cell phone. Then he headed back to the front door with Fran right behind him.  
  
"Maxwell drove her to-"  
  
"St. Mary's, I know," he interrupted her. "I'll call you from time to time to let you know how everything is going, okay? Now I have to hurry." He grabbed the bag in his free hand and opened the door with his elbow. Then he hurried out to the curb, where he hailed a cab.  
  
"St. Mary's," Niles ordered as he climbed in to the cab. "And step on it."  
  
He dialled the number of Mr. Sheffield's mobile phone as the car began moving.  
  
"Maxwell Sheffield."  
  
"It's Niles."  
  
"Niles, thank god." It was a long time since Niles had heard his boss as relieved as now. "What took you so long? You're the one who's supposed to be here, not me."  
  
"I'm on my way right now. I'll be with you in about 20 minutes. How's she holding up?"  
  
"Under the circumstances I think she's fine, but she has been cursing you to hell every time she's had a contraction."  
  
Niles heard CC in the background asking who it was. Mr. Sheffield answered her, then there was a lot of shuffling noises and the next thing he heard was CC yelling at him.  
  
"Niles, where the hell have you been for the last hour?! I know you aren't the fastest man in the world, but a snail could grocery shop faster than you! You better get your butt over here this instant!"  
  
"If you'd put a sock in it for just a second I could tell you that I'm on my way as we speak. And what the hell happened? This wasn't supposed to happen for another two weeks."  
  
"Don't tell me! Tell that to the damn kid of yours! Why does everything you touch turn against me at one time or another? Could you tell that? And where the hell are you?"  
  
"I'm in a cab on my way-" Niles stopped and noticed the car hadn't moved for at least a couple of minutes. "Miss Babcock, I'm going to have to go for a little while. I'll call you back in a few minutes."  
  
"Niles don't you dare hang up-." Niles turned off his cell phone and asked the cabby what was wrong.  
  
"Looks like quite a couple of cars crashed a bit up the road. I'm afraid we're stuck here a little while."  
  
"I don't have time for this," Niles muttered. He grabbed the bag, paid the cabby and jumped out. He dialled Miss Babcock as he began walking towards the hospital.  
  
"Hello, hello."  
  
"Hi, it's me again. Look there's been a slight change of plans. I'm afraid it'll take a bit more time than I first though. There was this car accident- "  
  
"Oh my god. Are you okay?" she interrupted him.  
  
"I'm fine, but now I have to get to the hospital by foot. Since I can't run and talk at the same time I'll just call you now and then." He heard her breathing heavily. "Are you okay?"  
  
"NO! Aaarrgghhh!! Just get here so I can bash you head in!" CC yelled at him as a contraction hit her.  
  
Niles turned off the phone and started running.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two blocks to go and he would be at the hospital. Finally! His legs were beginning to ache terribly. He had called her each time he came to a crosswalk and each time she seemed more angry with him, but also more exhausted. He dialled again and slowed to a quick walk.  
  
"Yes?" It was the doctor.  
  
"How is she, doc?"  
  
"Well she yells a lot, but she's fine. Boy am I glad I'm not going to be in your shoes, when you get here. She's not very fond of you, is she?"  
  
"Let me say it this way: I don't think I've ever been her favourite person. How much time do I have to get there in time, doc?"  
  
"Well, If you want to see you baby being born you better get here fast. This kid seems to be in quite a hurry."  
  
"Figures. Believe me, to anyone with Babcock genes patience is merely an eight letter word beginning with p, nothing more." He began running again.  
  
He finally reached the hospital, hurried through the front doors and quickly made his way to the elevators. 'Why is it that every time you're in a hurry the elevator has to stop at every floor?' he though exasperated. It finally came down and he stepped in and pressed the button for the 7th floor. 'Come on, hurry! Hurry!' He paced back and forth in the small elevator.  
  
Ding The doors opened and he ran down the corridor. He found a nurse.  
  
"Where's Miss Babcock's room?" he demanded to know.  
  
The nurse eyed the exhausted, sweaty man before her suspiciously. "And who are you? Her husband?"  
  
"Not husband, just father," he said still a bit out of breath.  
  
"Miss Babcock's father?" she asked puzzled.  
  
He couldn't help laughing. Miss Babcock would have loved to hear this conversation. "No, no. I'm not that old. I'm the baby's father."  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry." She blushed. "Miss Babcock is down the next corridor, second door on your right."  
  
He ran in the direction she pointed. When he turned the corner he could hear her. So much for sound proofing the rooms - Miss Babcock's voice could penetrate anything.  
  
He burst through the door and threw the bag in a corner. "Miss Babcock?"  
  
"Niles!"  
  
He had seen her prettier than now. She was wet with sweat and looked drained. He'd also seen her tired before but the exhausted look in her eyes now made his heart ache and he rushed to her side.  
  
"I'm right here Miss Babcock. I'm right here." She brought a hand to his neck and pulled him down to her. Niles was sure she would yell in his face and was very surprised when she kissed him. When he responded she pulled back. Then her fist sent a paralysing blow to his shoulder.  
  
"That's for doing this to me, you miserable excuse for a sperm donor! Aaarggghhhh!!"  
  
"That's right CC. Push. Push!" the doctor interrupted.  
  
When the contraction was over CC looked at Niles with an expression as if she was about to pass out.  
  
"Niles, I don't want to do this anymore. It hurts too much. Take over, will you? Please?"  
  
He wiped her forehead. "If I could I would in a second. I truly would," he said with as comforting a voice as he could manage. "You'll do fine. I know you can do it. You can do anything Miss babcock, anything!"  
  
The doctor's face came into view at the foot of the bed. "Okay CC, just one more push and your baby should be here. Come on - Push!"  
  
CC felt as if she was about to split in two and tried to direct as much of the pain as possible to Niles' hand which she held in a vicelike grip. Then suddenly the pain was gone and she collapsed closing her eyes. She felt so tired. She could smell Niles next to her and felt him brush her hair away from her forehead and a kiss being planted on it.  
  
"You are amazing, Miss Babcock. Truly amazing," she heard him whisper.  
  
Then a weight was being lain on her chest. She opened her eyes and saw a blue blanket with a little blond hair sticking out.  
  
The doctor, who had put it there, beamed a bright smile a her. "CC, meet you son."  
  
"A son? I was right? Niles, I was right!" she smiled up at him.  
  
"Of course you were."  
  
CC opened the blanket a bit and looked at their son. "Oh, god," she moaned.  
  
"What? Is there something wrong?" Niles was close to panic.  
  
"Depends on how you look at it. It's just that he looks just like his father."  
  
Niles straightened up and smiled proudly. "Really?"  
  
"Yes, really." She closed her eyes and murmured smiling "Short and wrinkly."  
  
Niles chuckled and watched CC who'd fallen asleep. She was back to normal. She was still the hellcat he knew and he was glad. A nurse came up next to him.  
  
"She really needs to sleep. You can come back in the morning," she said as she took the baby from CC's arms.  
  
Niles nodded still looking at CC. "Just a second, okay?" He turned to his son sleeping peacefully in the nurse's arms. He kissed his forehead lightly and whispered "I love you".  
  
When the nurse left he turned back to CC. He bent over her and placed a very soft kiss on her lips afraid that he might wake her up. "I love you too. CC." Then he left so she could rest.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When CC woke the next morning she was surprised at how good she felt. She was lying in an unknown, impersonal hospital-room, her body hurt everywhere but none-the-less she felt good. She turned to look at her son, lying in his own little bed next to hers. He stirred a bit and suddenly let out a loud scream. CC quickly picked him up.  
  
"There, there little one. Life isn't that bad. Let me guess, you're hungry, right?"  
  
She buttoned up her shirt and laid him next to a breast, where he instantly began sucking. She smiled at the memory of the other's faces, when she had announced she intended to breastfeed junior. She had claimed it was because it was the best way to loose the weight she'd gained, but somewhere deep inside she knew it wasn't the entire truth. She didn't want to give him up quite yet and this was a way to hold on to him a little longer.  
  
She turned on the radio and found a station playing soft music. A new song began and she listened to the words.  
  
Well you're such a little one and your life has just begun it's a miracle to me  
  
Now you're out in open air in my heart and everywhere but you close your eyes and look like you don't care  
  
But I'm right here to take care of you believe me I'll be there for you  
  
You're my baby you're my every little thing you're the wonder of it all you're an angel I can see your little wings and the joy that you bring you make a change in me with your little wings with your little wings  
  
Now I finally put some words to a song I've often heard in the corner of my mind  
  
'Cause I've felt this way before and I've circled 'round the core but until today I could not get it right  
  
Still I know I ain't no poet but its the best way I can show it  
  
You're my baby you're my every little thing you're the wonder of it all You're an angel I can see your little wings and the joy that you bring you make a change in me with your little wings with your little wings  
  
She almost could see small wings on her now sleeping son. She felt herself fall more and more in love with him every second she spend with him. She began rocking him in her arms.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles knocked quietly on the door, not wanting to wake CC or the baby if they were asleep. He slowly pushed the door open and looked inside. The vision that met his eyes left him stunned.  
  
CC was sitting in bed rocking the little one in her arms. Niles could hear her humming a little nameless tune as she caressed his face with her index finger. She wasn't aware of his presence yet and Niles almost felt like a voyeur - the scene before him was one of the most intimate ones he could ever imagine.  
  
No woman could ever be more beautiful to him than she was right now. She practically glowed. Niles already knew he was in love with CC, but now he knew he would never recover - it was futile to fight it anymore.  
  
The way CC looked at her son almost made Niles jealous, but the realization that he himself also had a part in the vision before him, made him feel like the happiest man alive. He cleared his throat to let her know he was in the room. She looked up and smiled at him.  
  
"Hi," was all she said.  
  
Niles' voice had obviously decided to take a holiday, because he couldn't find it anywhere. So he just walked into the room and closed the door behind him.  
  
"I... ehhh... are you.... how...?" the right words just wouldn't come out his mouth.  
  
CC looked at the father of her child and more heard than saw how nervous he really was. She had never experienced him not being able to come with a quick and smart remark.  
  
"Come here, Niles, sit down," she said gently, padding the bed beside her. He did so, carefully making sure he didn't push or squeeze her in the process. There was a short silence where none of them knew what to say.  
  
CC looked at Niles and saw the gentle look he gave her son.  
  
"You want to hold him?"  
  
"May I?"  
  
Their eyes met and the joy that shone from Niles' almost overwhelmed CC.  
  
"Of course you can. He is your son too, no matter how much I would like to deny it." Gently she handed over her son to his father.  
  
Niles' arms still remembered how to hold a baby. Holding the baby in one arm he gently caressed his face and head. His son. He had a son. He was a father. He never thought he would be, yet now he was. He had listened to tons of fathers talking about the joy of fatherhood, thinking they had to be exaggerating. Now he found that even the most positive word didn't really describe the feeling.  
  
He looked at the little wonder he and CC had created together. Their baby. How would he ever be able to repay her for this?  
  
CC looked at the two men in her life. They already had a bond between them, a connection she realized she would never really be a part of. It didn't worry her much though, that was how it was supposed to be. Father and son.  
  
She noticed he was looking at her, his eyes misty and his lower lip trembling slightly.  
  
"Thank you," he whispered almost inaudibly. "He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thank you so much, Miss Babcock."  
  
"You're quite welcome, Niles." She reached over and squeezed his hand. "But I think it's about time you start calling me CC, don't you? I am after all little Junior's mother."  
  
Niles could only nod and smile.  
  
Life couldn't possibly get any better.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CC came "home" the next day. Niles had insisted she stay at the mansion the first few weeks. Not that anyone would have suggested anything else, he just felt he had to make sure everyone knew it was what he wanted.  
  
Everyone was there, when CC carried the little one over the threshold and Niles came trailing behind her with all her bags. When he had disentangled himself from all the various straps and handles he walked over to the others.  
  
Mrs. Sheffield was holding the baby now and both the children and Mr. Sheffield was fawning over him.  
  
"He's so small," Gracie said.  
  
"And wrinkled too," Brighton stated.  
  
CC shot Niles an amused glance that clearly said "I told you so!"  
  
"He's handsome and absolutely adorable." That was Fran's opinion and Niles was beaming with pride and joy. "Have you found a name for him yet?"  
  
'A name?' CC thought slightly panicking. 'I haven't even thought about a name for him.' She looked at Niles who looked just as bewilded as she felt. Then his eyes gleamed and in some weird way she knew what he was thinking.  
  
"Junior?" they asked each other at the same time and broke into laughter.  
  
The others failed to see the humour in the situation and looked puzzled at the new parents. When the laughing had subsided to an occasional giggle CC reached out her arms and asked if she could have her son back.  
  
"Of course Miss Babcock. Here you go."  
  
"You know what Nanny Fine - Fran? I think it's about time we call each other by first name, don't you?"  
  
"Definitely Miss-, sorry, definitely CC. Are you serious about calling him Junior?"  
  
Niles felt he had to contribute to the conversation too. "Absolutely. That's the only way I can be sure she's able to remember his name." That earned him an elbow in the side from CC.  
  
"Believe me the day I'm able to forget your name I'm finally going to be happy," she shot back at him. "I think I'll name him Stuart too. You know after my father."  
  
"And I don't have anything to say about it?" Niles said while looking down at their son.  
  
"Nope."  
  
All the Sheffields and CC broke into laughter.  
  
Niles just shrugged. "Didn't think so," he replied dryly. Then he smiled down at the little boy. "So, Niles Stuart Babcock, what do you think of the outside world so far?"  
  
Junior's face twisted as if he didn't know quite wether to laugh or cry, but finally made up his mind and wailed out loud. CC put him to a shoulder and rubbed his back while gently shushing him.  
  
"There, there. It's not that bad a place when you have a second look at it." The wailing subsided to a hiccup. CC sniffed the air a couple of times. "Niles I think he needs changing."  
  
"Okay. Just give him to me and I'll take care of it." He reached out his hands so she could hand Junior to him. She kept holding him though and looked at Niles.  
  
"I didn't say you should do it, did I? I can do it perfectly well myself, thank you very much. Just help me carry the bags upstairs. Bell Boy." She shot a glance at Niles that could have meant anything. He decided to think of it as an insult, any other meaning would have too large consequences for him to handle right now.  
  
"Yes Miss Babcock. Of course Miss Babcock. Anything else I can do for you Miss Babcock?" Niles replied in a slightly mocking tone. He grabbed the bags and they began walking up the stairs.  
  
"Niles, I told you to call me CC, didn't I?"  
  
"And you actually expected me to do it?"  
  
"With your senile mind I wouldn't even expect you to remember it."  
  
Maxwell and Fran stayed looking at the newly hatched parents insulting each other all the way up the stairs. They could still hear them after they'd disappeared at the landing.  
  
Maxwell lay an arm across his wife's shoulders and gave her a little squeeze.  
  
"Do you think he'll ever work up the courage to tell her?" he asked her.  
  
Fran shook her head. "I don't know. But honestly I think it's more of a question wether she'll ever realize how much she needs him."  
  
"Well, she'll never need him as much as I need you Darling." He kissed her gently on the lips.  
  
"You know what Sweety?"  
  
"No, what?" He kissed her again.  
  
"I'm hungry again," she stated. Fran grabbed her husbands hand and dragged him to the kitchen. "I swear with the appetite I have, one should think there were two in there."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
To say that everything went back to normal would be to stretch the truth more than it could take, but the new rhythms at the mansion were soon accepted by everybody. CC rested the first couple of days, but soon went back to work. Little by little as not to exhaust herself too much. Junior stayed with Niles all the time save for feeding time.  
  
He was happy that CC wanted to breastfeed Junior, even though it still puzzled him. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why she did it. Niles had suggested formula at night so she could get some sleep, but CC would hear nothing of it. So once or twice a night there would be a light knocking on her door and when she opened it Niles would be on the other side holding a hungry Junior.  
  
The first few times he had left the two of them alone, but after she suggested it, he stayed with them. They soon had a routine worked out. Niles would first help her and Junior get comfortable in the bed and then he would snuggle into the big winged armchair at the foot of the bed. They rarely spoke together at these nightly meetings, they just sat in silence thinking and listening to Junior making sucking noises. Niles loved that sound.  
  
Sometimes Niles would fall asleep. CC loved when it happened. Then she had Junior all to herself for a little while and she still had Niles close by in case something unexpected happened. She felt like she could look at Junior for ages. She clearly saw a strong resemblance to his father, but she also saw bits of herself in him and it fascinated her.  
  
The hair was Niles' - it was already growing like weed. His eyes were the same ice-blue as her own and his nose gave promises of the same straightness as hers had. When he smiled at her CC felt her heart tighten the same way as when Niles did it. He was a perfect hybrid of his parents.  
  
Niles and CC spend quite a lot of day time together because of Junior too, and for some reason it wasn't as terribly as she'd suspected. Whenever he took Junior somewhere he always told her, so she wouldn't be concerned and often he asked if she wanted to come too. It had resulted in some pretty weird shopping trips for things for Junior.  
  
"This one's pretty," CC said while holding up a small romper suit. It was very pastel green.  
  
"There is no way you're getting that thing anywhere near my son." Niles said as he poked a finger at the romper suit.  
  
"Why? It's very sweet."  
  
"That may be so, but it's also pastel green."  
  
"So?"  
  
"It's about the least masculine colour there is CC. Except for baby pink of course, but I think even you realize that. This one's more like it." Niles held up a mini baseball-shirt.  
  
"I suspect you want him to wear a baseball cap too." She didn't look impressed.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Over my dead body, Niles. Put that foul thing back and find something proper for him to wear."  
  
They basically never agreed on anything, but somehow they still managed to bring a lot of things home from each trip.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CC was sitting in her bed with Junior in her arms and looking at a sleeping Niles. He snored. It wasn't a loud snore like a bulldozer motor, but more like a lion's purr. It was an extremely sedative sound. It was Junior's one month birthday tomorrow and she knew she had to leave.  
  
He was scaring her. 'No, that was wrong. Niles couldn't scare a kitten, even if he tried.' She was scared of herself, of her thought and feelings.  
  
It had started so simple. She had been sitting on the green leather couch and looked at Niles dusting while she pretended to read some papers. He had Junior on his back in a child carrier. Niles had Junior with him everywhere in that one. It looked both very silly and very sweet at the same time. Suddenly Junior decided it would be fun to dribble down Niles' neck.  
  
"You little piggy-wiggy. Now you got daddy all wet," he said as he took Junior down and wiped both his own neck and Junior's face. CC tried to suppress a giggled but didn't succeed very well.  
  
"It's not funny," he told her trying to be serious. His eyes betrayed him, they gleamed in merriment.  
  
"Oh, yes it is."  
  
CC had looked at his face trying to come up with a zinger to shoot at him. Her eyes caught his lips as he concentrated on getting Junior clean and she was stunned. The deepest depths of her subconsciousness had suddenly let go of a memory it had stored away very thoroughly. She could literately feel his lips kissing little trails over every inch of her body and she gasped audibly. She couldn't tear her eyes from his lips as she saw them turn towards her. They moved and her ears heard sounds but her brain was far too occupied with the memory she was reliving to make sense of what he said. He came closer.  
  
'My god! Had it really been that good?' She knew now exactly when and where the memory was from. The wedding, his bed. His face was inches from her eyes now. She tried to concentrate on what he was saying.  
  
"Miss Babcock! CC! What's the matter?"  
  
"Huh? I was just lost in thoughts for a second there."  
  
"Lost? You were completely gone. You look like you just saw a ghost." He looked at her very worried.  
  
"Seriously Niles, it's nothing. I think I'm just a little tired." She got up but it was like her legs weren't entirely stable and she had to support herself with a hand on the arm of the couch. Niles reached out his hands to help her, but she dismissed his help with the wave of a hand. She didn't want to think about what kind of memories that might pop up at the touch of his hand.  
  
"Niles I can walk by myself, thank you. Tell Maxwell I'm taking a nap." She hurried away from him as fast as she could.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles didn't know what to think. She had been behaving very strangely the last week or so. It wasn't that she was really avoiding him, yet somehow she still was. When he'd put a hand on her shoulder, like he'd done dozens of times, she'd pushed it away as if it had burned her. When he brought Junior to her at night she didn't want any help to get comfortable anymore and he had a suspicion she was having nightmares.  
  
Last night she'd been so deep asleep she hadn't heard him knocking. He'd opened the door and saw her twisting and turning in bed. When he'd sat down beside her to wake her up, he'd almost had a second heart attack when she suddenly sat up in bed and shouted "My god, you're killing me!"  
  
When he shook her awake, she quickly collected herself and behaved like nothing had happened. She refused to talk about it, when he asked her what it was about. 'Stubborn woman.'  
  
Today was Junior's one month birthday and she'd been jumpy all day. They had celebrated it with the rest of the 'family' and everyone had a really good time with the cake and presents.  
  
Except for CC. She was appropriately thrilled about the presents and stuff, but Niles sensed there was something wrong. He'd caught her eyes a couple of times and they had looked at him almost frightened. 'What could frighten the ice-queen?'  
  
The party was over and Niles was putting the leftovers in the refrigerator, when CC entered the kitchen.  
  
"Where's the little man?" Niles asked.  
  
"He's with Fran and Maxwell in the living-room. I don't think you could get Fran to let go of him even if you used the jaws of life."  
  
Niles chuckled. She just looked at him not even smiling.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.  
  
"Niles I need to talk to you about something." 'Oh, oh. This sounds serious.'  
  
"Okay." They sat down at the kitchen table. CC looked down at her hands playing with a teaspoon.  
  
"Niles, I'm leaving."  
  
"Okaaay." He felt there was more.  
  
"And I'm taking Junior with me." She looked at him, expecting him to start protesting. It didn't happen. They just looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
"Okay," he finally said.  
  
"What? You're okay with it?"  
  
"You're going to bring him here every day, right?"  
  
"If you want me to, yes."  
  
"Then it's okay. I know you love him and you'll take good care of him even when I'm not around."  
  
CC smiled relieved and let out a sigh. "Oh, Niles. You have no idea how nervous I've been about this conversation. I expected you to get angry and try and hold me to the deal we made."  
  
"I know I'm going to miss him but I'll see him every day, so I think I'll be able to live with it. I don't want to separate him from his mother." He put a hand on hers. "Especially when I know what a great mother he has."  
  
CC blushed. 'He thinks I'm a good mother?' This she hadn't expected.  
  
"We'll be leaving tomorrow after work, if it okay with you," she said quietly looking at their hands.  
  
He nodded. "I'll make sure all his things are packed and ready." If this was what she wanted he was prepared to live with it. If he could. "We should go back to the others."  
  
"Yeah, we should," she sounded as if she was miles away in thoughts. Then she suddenly woke up. She pulled her hands away from his. "- go back to the other. Absolutely."  
  
She got up and left with Niles not far behind her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Niles drove CC and Junior to CC's apartment the next day. He helped her with all the bags and the crib and after a quick 'I'll-see-you-tomorrow' he left.  
  
CC was sitting on the couch trying to read a book. She felt slightly uneasy. The feeling had been intensified by Junior's behaviour. She'd put him to sleep not more than an hour ago. He'd been fuzzing and it took a long time to get him to sleep. CC understood him perfectly well since he was in a new and strange place. Who'd wanna go to sleep in a place like that?  
  
She looked around in her apartment. It wasn't new to her, but it did feel a bit strange even though she knew it was ridiculous; she'd been living in it for more than a decade. Then she realized she hadn't. She had been living at the Sheffield's mansion. Mostly inside her head but for the last two- three months also in the real world. She missed it already.  
  
CC looked at the clock. It was only four hours since Niles had left, but it felt like more. She put the book down on the table - she hadn't read a single page. The doorbell chimed. 'Who can it be at this hour? It's almost midnight.' She walked over to the door, but didn't know wether to open it or not.  
  
"Who is it?" she asked carefully.  
  
"It's me." 'Niles?' She quickly opened the door.  
  
"Niles, what are you doing here?"  
  
He looked miserable. "I'm sorry to disturb you this late, but I can't-" he stopped and looked down at his shoes.  
  
"Come inside. Can't do what, Niles?" She closed the door behind them and they just looked at each other for a long time.  
  
"I can't-" he began but stopped again. "I miss him" he said quietly. "And I miss you."  
  
CC's eyes shot wide open. "You what?" She couldn't believe her ears.  
  
"I miss you," he repeated. "Both of you. I thought I could go on without you, I mean it would only be the nights, but I can't. I miss talking to you. I miss you yelling at me. I miss carrying Junior around. I miss looking at you feeding Junior. I miss the scent of your perfume, when you walk past me. I even miss changing Junior's diaper!"  
  
CC looked at him with large eyes and open mouth. "Niles, it's not more than four hours since you said goodbye us. How can you possibly miss us that much, that soon?"  
  
"I don't know. Well, I do. I need you. I'm totally dependant on you." He took a deep breath. "CC, I love you." He looked at her with the same expression as a puppy who knows it's going to be yelled at.  
  
"You love me?" He nodded.  
  
"You love me?" He nodded again.  
  
"You love me?"  
  
"Yes, CC. I love you." He looked her in the eyes. "Now I only need to know how you feel about me." He tried to be as cool about this as he could, but his inside was shaking.  
  
"I-I don't know. I mean missed you too. I think." She was totally confused. 'How do you name things you don't know what is?' "I have thought a lot about you lately." That was the understatement of the millenium. "I have been dreaming about you too." Why did she tell him that?  
  
CC really felt like having a very large drink right now.  
  
"You've been dreaming about me?" Maybe there was hope? "What kind of dreams?"  
  
"I'm not telling you that!" It was hard enough to tell herself.  
  
"Was it me in your nightmares?"  
  
"Nightmares?"  
  
"I know you've been having troubling dreams lately. Is it because of me?" he looked downcast. No, there was no hope.  
  
"Well you were in them, but I don't think they would qualify as nightmares."  
  
"No?"  
  
"No."  
  
There was a long silence. It was Niles who broke it.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Oh, Niles!" She threw herself back into the couch and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore. I don't know how I feel about you. I don't know anything anymore. I just don't know!"  
  
Niles sat down beside her. "That sounds very promising. Very promising indeed." He looked at her. "Why won't you tell me about your dreams, CC?" He had this feeling those dreams were important.  
  
"They're private, that's why."  
  
"If I'm in them, don't you think I ought to know?"  
  
"No."  
  
"CC, come on. Please?"  
  
"Oh, what the heck. Okay, I'll tell you. But you have to answer one question first and I want an honest answer from you."  
  
"Okay. Shoot."  
  
"I need to know how much you remember from the night Junior was conceived."  
  
It was not the question he had expected. He was just about to deny he remembered anything when he realized what was at stake: His possible future relationship with her. He couldn't jeopardize that for anything.  
  
"Everything. Every single second. The whole night is etched inside my brain."  
  
"And you never told me?"  
  
"Well, you acted like you didn't remember it so I did the same. Why do you wanna know?"  
  
"For you information I didn't remember." She got up from the couch. He was far too close for comfort. "That is until last week" she said quietly.  
  
"The incident in the office?" he asked. CC nodded. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, I was looking at you cleaning Junior and then suddenly I remembered everything. It was like my subconsciousness suddenly decided to pardon the memory and just let it go from the life sentence it was serving inthere. And that's kind of - sort of what I've been dreaming about." She was suddenly finding the pattern on the carpet very interesting. "I remember how you touched me, how you kissed me, how you- well, you know, you were there." She begun pacing back and forth. "This last week every time I've seen you, every time you touched me there's been a rerun of the whole thing inside my head."  
  
"And that's a bad thing?" Niles asked carefully.  
  
"I don't know! I mean it was good, no more like great. No that's not right either. Oh alright, it was mind numbing, okay." She was talking faster now as if her mind shouldn't have time to catch up with her mouth. "and I wanted you to do it to me all over again and it's scaring me to death. I mean I've always hated you - you've always hated me. It's worked fine for 15 years, why spoil a good thing, right?" She stopped pacing and looked him straight in the eyes. "How do you think it feels to be around a man all day, a man you've hated with a passion for the better part of your life, and all you can think about is that you want him to put his hands all over you?!" She froze. 'Did I just say that? I didn't even know I was thinking that?'  
  
"It's awful isn't it?" he said with a big smile as he walked over to her. "I know how you feel. I've been wanting to do the same thing for a long time. Just the other way around of course." He put his hands on each side of her face, but it was like she didn't realize it at all.  
  
"I-I... Does all this mean I love you?" She looked at him with a look of confusion and despair.  
  
"I don't know. But I think it's a very good start." He pulled her face closer and kissed her lips very softly. "You like that?" She nodded slowly. "You want me to do it again?" Another nod, this one more eager.  
  
As the next kiss got deeper, she snaked her arms around his neck and when they finally broke apart they had somehow ended up back on the couch.  
  
"I love you, CC," he whispered. "Very much."  
  
"I... I...."  
  
"You don't have to say it."  
  
"But I want to, because I really do." She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead to his. "My therapist say I've got the old saying that things are 'easier said that done' all wrong and it's actually the other way around. As long as I haven't said it I can deny it. So I think I need to say it."  
  
He kissed the tip of her nose. "Take your time. I have all the time in the world. If I've been able to wait 15 year I think I can wait a little more."  
  
She disentangled herself from him and stood up.  
  
"Maybe, but I can't! I want to say it!"  
  
Niles smiled. 'And now the famous nonexisting Babcock patience kicks in.'  
  
"Come here," he waved her over to him. When she stood next to him, he pulled her down on his lap. "Let me see if I can bring it out." Then he kissed her. He kissed her with all the passion he'd build up for the last decade, he kissed her like he would never be able to kiss her again. And she responded with all she was worth.  
  
They broke apart and she collapsed in his arms, her head resting on his heaving chest.  
  
"Niles?" she whispered.  
  
"Mmhhhmm?"  
  
"I love you." He kissed the top of her head.  
  
"There you see," he smiled. "I just had to push the right buttons."  
  
CC lifted her head and looked at him, smiling like a little devil. "You know me far too well. How do you feel about pushing some of my other buttons?" His smile widened as he pulled her in for more than just another kiss.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She was lying on top of him still breating heavily.  
  
"Why didn't we do this sooner?" she asked and rolled down.  
  
He turned and looked at her. "Well there was the hating and loathing."  
  
"The scorn, disapproval and distrust," she smiled.  
  
"Disgust, contempt and nausea."  
  
"No, no. The nausea was just for me after you had your way with me." She let her hand run up and down his chest.  
  
"Since you remember everything now, you know very well it was you who had your way with me, not the other way around." Her fingers were driving him mad. "And if you keep that up, you better be prepared for another round."  
  
She smiled like a Cheshire Cat at him. "Why do you think I'm doing it?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
He was lying on something hard. Hard, yet soft like a carpet. And he was pretty sure it was a blanket that was wrapped around him. He slowly opened his eyes and everything was- 'grey velvet?' Niles sat up, suddenly very much awake and looked again. The grey velvet was on the back of a couch. How in the name of god had he ended up behind the couch, wrapped in a blanket? 'Oh, yeah.' He smiled from ear to ear at the memory. 'What a night! No wonder my entire body hurts.' He got up and wrapped the blanket tighter around his naked body.  
  
"Good morning, Sleepy-head." A female voice greeted behind him.  
  
Niles turned around and saw CC standing in the doorway to the bedroom with Junior in her arms. She was wearing his shirt. It was far too big for her, but it looked adorable. He walked over to them, or at least he tried. Somehow his feet got entangled in the blanket and he stumbled, falling back behind the couch.  
  
CC's laughter filled the room.  
  
"It's not funny!" he yelled from behind the couch. He finally got up and walked over to her and Junior, very carefully making sure he didn't fall again. "You just love when I do things like that, don't you?"  
  
She just kept laughing. "You... should have seen.... the look on.... your face," she said between laughing fits. Her eyes were tearing up with laughter.  
  
"Let me have Junior so you don't drop him or something." When Niles hold his son in his arms he could only look at him and smile. "What did I ever do to deserve all this?" he smiled very content.  
  
CC thought about it a little. "Well, you got very drunk, then you got me just as drunk and then you seduced me." she said with a grin. "And I really hope you intent to keep on doing it. The last part anyway." She enveloped her arms around him and their son.  
  
"Oh, definitely. Maybe we should try again."  
  
"Oh, yeah, definitively."  
  
"What about Junior here?"  
  
"While you were snoring behind the couch, I changed and fed him so he's ready to go back to bed." She took his hand and let him to the bedroom. "And I called Maxwell and said Junior was sick so we had to stay here all day." She smiled wickedly at him.  
  
"Oh, such efficiency. And so early in the morning too."  
  
"Honey, you don't know half of it. Come with me and I'll show you some real efficiency."  
  
Niles smiled and sighed.  
  
Life was good. Very good indeed.  
  
EPILOGUE  
  
She quietly opened the backdoor, sneaked up to her husband and snaked her arms around him.  
  
"Hi Lover Boy," she purred as she put her chin on his shoulder. "What's for dinner? Oh, never mind just make a lot of it, okay?"  
  
"Hi, my little hellcat." He turned his head and kissed her lightly on the nose. "Why? Are we having guests coming over tonight?"  
  
"Not tonight, but we'll have someone coming around in about 7 months. Do you remember where we put Junior's old crib, by the way?"  
  
"What are you talking about CC, you're making no sense at all. Not that it's unusual, but I thought I was beginning to understand your spells and enchantments. Now tell me, what is it all about?"  
  
"Oh, nothing big really, not yet anyway. Remember when I was pregnant with Junior?"  
  
"With horror, yes."  
  
"Well, you better get used to it again, Stud," she said and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
He turned slowly to face her. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.  
  
"You know I had an appointment with Dr. Aaronson this afternoon, right?" He could only nod. "He seems to be under the impression that Junior is going to be a big brother real soon."  
  
He just kept staring at her.  
  
"Niles say something."  
  
He didn't. He just grabbed her and kissed her forcefully and with heated passion. She loved when he tried to be the boss and she returned the kiss whole-heartedly. She felt his strong arms lift her up and that he began walking towards the stairs with he in his arms.  
  
"Niles, what are you doing?" she mumbled between kisses.  
  
"Dinner can wait and I thought maybe we could try out a fantasy I've been having for quite a while now."  
  
"A fantasy, huh? Tell me, tell me." She showered little kisses all over his face as he began to carry her up the stairs.  
  
"I've been having this fantasy about making wild, passionate love to a pregnant woman. A very special, pregnant woman."  
  
"Oh, that one's definitively worth trying on for size," she murmured and kissed him so heatedly and passionately he had to stop and support himself against the wall. When they finally broke apart his mind was reeling and he was almost out of breath.  
  
"You have to be more careful with that mouth of your's CC," he panted. "Three more seconds of that and I swear we wouldn't have been able to make it to the bedroom."  
  
CC snuggled closer into his arms.  
  
"You better hurry up then, because I feel another one coming. If you carry me all the way I'll even let you..." and she whispered something in his ear which made him blush furiously but also increased his speed up the stairs considerably.  
  
They were soon out of sight and the last things to be heard was CC's faint giggle and a door slam shut.  
  
The End  
  
* The song "Little Wings" is by a Danish band called "Big Fat Snake". You can listen to the song on www.bigfatsnake.com. 


End file.
